Archaeologists Unearth the Ruins of a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Basilica Beneath an Office Building in London
The remarkably well-preserved basilica was part of a public meeting place where citizens and politicians could socialize, shop and hear speeches in the growing city
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The plan was to demolish the old office building at 85 Gracechurch Street in the heart of London’s financial district and construct a new 32-story tower in its place. But as demolition began, archaeologists made a staggering discovery in the site’s foundation: remarkably intact ruins of London’s first public building, dating back almost 2,000 years.
In a statement, Sophie Jackson, the director of development for the Museum of London Archeology (MOLA), calls it “one of the most significant discoveries made in the city in recent years.”
The Roman-era basilica, built in around 80 C.E., was part of London’s forum, a commercial, political and social hub where members of the public gathered and made important decisions about their city. Jackson likens it to London’s “first town hall,” according to the New York Times’ Claire Moses.
Archaeologists from MOLA previously knew about the general location of the site, but until now, the extent to which the ruins were preserved was unknown. Given the centuries of rampant development in London, the chances that the basilica or forum were well preserved were slim.
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They began by digging narrow test trenches in the concrete floor of the previous building, which was set to be demolished in advance of the new office tower. In the third pit, dug between two filing cabinets, the archaeologists unearthed “a huge chunk of Roman masonry,” Jackson tells Rebecca Morelle and Alison Francis of BBC News.
As the excavations continued, MOLA archaeologists uncovered limestone foundation walls quarried from Kent that measure more than three feet wide and 13 feet deep. They suggest a building with a footprint almost the size of an Olympic swimming pool: more than 130 feet long, 65 feet wide and nearly 40 feet high, according to BBC News. They also recovered other artifacts, including a roof tile with an official city stamp.
“The levels of preservation of the basilica have far exceeded our expectations,” Jackson says in the statement.
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The basilica was built just a few decades after the Roman invasion of Britain during the rule of Agricola, who governed the territory between 78 and 84 C.E. It was situated on a hill raised over the rest of Londinium, as the city was then known. At the forum, citizens could shop, socialize and catch up on political news from the city’s leaders, who delivered speeches and edicts on the basilica’s pulpit.
“It’s the beating heart of the city,” Andrew Henderson-Schwartz, MOLA’s head of public impact, tells Jill Lawless of the Associated Press. “It kind of towers above the city. And so it’s a real symbol of Roman power and authority.”
But the building wasn’t in use for long. After 20 years, the first basilica and forum were replaced with larger versions, reflecting the growing population and importance of Londinium. That second forum, built around the first, stayed in use until the Romans left Britain some three centuries later.
As for the modern building in the beating heart of the city, the architects have “comprehensively adjusted” their plans to accommodate the Roman ruins, James Taylor, an architect from the firm Woods Bagot, tells BBC News. The firm will install fewer elevators, and the total height of the building will be reduced.
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Dealing with Roman ruins in London is hardly a new dilemma, however. In 2022, MOLA uncovered a rare Roman mausoleum filled with mosaics. In 2013, Bloomberg’s skyscraper office tower was built above the 2,000-year-old Temple of Mithras. Back in the 1920s, Roman ruins were uncovered beneath a bank just 350 feet from the basilica site, according to the Times.
Early preservation plans from Woods Bagot suggest turning the basilica into a publicly accessible archaeological museum with a glass floor overlooking the ruins and interactive exhibits about London’s Roman past.
“The fact that Roman London is beneath your feet is, frankly, quite a remarkable emotion to experience,” Chris Hayward, the policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, tells BBC News.
